Rail bond



P. P. PIPES RAIL BOND May 31, 1932..

Filed Nov. 9, 1927 F A/NY P PIPES Chrome Patented May 31, 1932 UNITEDSTATES.

PLINY P. PIPES, OF MANSFIELD, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE OHIO BRASS COMPANY,OF

MANSFIELD, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY RAIL BOND Application filedNovember 9, 1927. Serial No. 232,0 2.

'My invention relates to rail bonds for electrically connecting theadjacent ends of rails.

The object of my invention is to provide a bond which is adaptable forapplylng by means of an oxy-acetylene flame or other gaseous flame andthe flame of the electric arc, and applied by means of either a steelelectrode, copper electrode or copper having associated therewith areducing agent.

My invention resides in the new and novel construction, combination andrelation of the parts hereinafter described and shown 1n theaccompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

' Fig. 1 is a top view of the bond as positioned against a side surfaceof adjacent rail ends but not welded thereto. I

Fig. 2 shows a side view of the bond.

Fig. 3 shows an end view of the bond as positioned against the side faceof a rail, as

in Fig. 1.

Figs. 4 and 5 are sectional views taken on the lines 4-4 and 55respectively of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a sectional View on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1, showing the bondterminal as Welded to the side face of the rail by'means of a copperfluxattaching metal. Fig. 7 shows a sectional view of the terminal on theline 77 as positioned against the rail'in an inverted position fromthatin Figs. 3 and 6 andwelded to the sidesurface of the frail by meansof steel attaching metal. There are times when it is desirable to have abond which can be secured to the side sur face of a rail by either steelor copper and by means of either the oXy-acetylene flame or the electricarc, and I have provided a bond adapted for such varied application, 40and the same comprises the flexible body member 1 and terminal 2 securedtogether and having an interposed sleeve 3.

I prefer to make the body member of copper and the terminal member ofsteel or p iron, although it may be made ofcopper or other suitablemetals. If made of steel then I am able to carry out all the objectsnamed" above, and especially uniting the terminal to the rail by meansof steel or iron attaching metal, which cannot be done if the terminalis composed of copper. The terminal member 2 comprises an elongatedtroughlike portion 4, closed at one end, and its opposite end projectingfrom a sleeve portion 5 adapted to receive and grip the body 1. Theterminal 2 is preferably formed up out of sheet metal of uniformthickness, and this can be readily done by means of proper dies orstamping and forming the sheet metal. When made in this manner, therewill be a split or seam 6 in the sleeve portion 5. The terminal 2 can bemade of a casting such as malleableized cast iron, brass, bronze orcopper, or it may be formed up as a forging and the sleeve portion 5drilled to receive the body member 1 and sleeve 8. i V j The portion 4has a straight longitudinally disposed side 7 adapted to be applied tothe rail surface. Also, the side 7 is preferably made with a flatsurface of limited vertical height, although this is not. entirelyneces- The opposite edge 8 of the terminal" PATENT orric n;

yond the sleeve portion 5 and into the troughlike receptacle 9, and thispermits the attaching metal 10 to be fused to the inner surface of thereceptacle 9 and the upper edges of the terminal portion 4 and also tothe end face 11 of the bodymember 1, thereby uniting the terminal, bodymember 1 and the rail together through the medium of the welding metal10.

The receptacle '9 receives the copper base welding metal 10,"but is notadaptedto re ceive a ferrous welding metal, for the reason that themolten steel or iron would not unite properly with the end face 11 ofthe body'l, but when it is desired to apply the bond to the rail bymeans of the oXy-acetylene or other gaseous flame, or electric arc,using a copper the receptacle and unite the end face 11 to.

the terminal 2. This electrically unites the body member 1 and theterminalmember 2 in a very efficient and secure manner. Having donethis, theoperator then appliesthe bond to the rall in the reverseposltlon from that shown in Fig. 1, that is, the receptacle side wouldthen ,be positioned downwardly.

In Fig. 7 isshown a section of a terminal taken on the, line 7-7 asapplied to the side surface of a rail by means of steel or ironattaching metal 12. The terminal portion 4: shown in the oppositeposition from that in Fig. 1, and the copper base attaching metal,referred to above, and positioned in the receptacle 9, is indicated bythe numeral 13.

- Having positioned the bond against the rail surface, the attachingmetal 12 of steel or ironis applied by meansof the oxy-acetylene v flameor the electric arc. This units the terminal directly to the railthrough the medium of thewelding metal 12 and the bond is attached tothe terminal by means of the attaching metal. 7

. The sleeve 3 is usually made of copper and quite thin, and preventsthe edges of the sleeve portion 5 from cutting into the strands of thecopper member 1, and the sleeve?) tends to dampen Vibration, preventscrystallization of the strands adjacent the outer edge ofthe leev 7 Thesleeve; portion 5 is. arranged to me: chanically grip the end of .thebody member 1 in. a very secure manner to hold the body and terminaltogether such that it is not necessary to depend upon the welded jointbetween the body land the'metal 10 or 13 to secure these parts together.

The face 11 of the body member is preferably cut on an angle so that theface is angularly disposed upwardly in order that the heating flame canbe directly applied to the face 11, which will assure the operator thatall portions of the end facell .are united to the. attaching metal 10Vor 13, as the case maybe. 7 If the face .11 is at right angles to ,theaxis of the adj acent portionof the body, the operator is not assuredthat the entire face 11 will be properly joined to the welding metal 10or 13.

By taperin the terminal portion 4, as indicated at a, Fig. 2, a betterapplication of the heating flame is permitted, especially in the case ofthe electric arc and also increases 1 possible contact area of thewelding metal face, as shown in Fig.. 6.

In using the electric arcin welding, I may use either a steel or copperbase electrode, or I may use a carbon electrode and a filling rodof-stee'l or-iron, or acopper base metal, which is melted down by thearc flame ofthe carbon electrode. 7

It will be seen thatmy bondis quite unig versal in its application, andthat; it canzbe applied by any of the various heating flames now commonin the art and by means of'a copper base or ferrous base-welding metalsThis bond also has the 'advantage that after it has been installed inone-of th'e two positions referredto, it can be pried-joif the rail and'appli ed in theother position if 'desired at another point on theelectric system. It will be noted "that thejside'? and bottom of theterminal re' ubstant allyetrigh n: gles and that when the bond isapplied to the rail, as in Fig. 7, the bottom ofthe terminal formsaShelf P 701 ea g f m the rail at ub: stantially right angles thereto. II

There will 1 be modifications evident to those skilled in the art, butIfwish to be limited only by myclaims. i 1

Iclaim: V j" 1. A terminal adapted to be welded to a rail in eitheroftwo positions comprising-a portion to receive andgrip a cable, theaxis of the; cable being extended longitudinally of the a l i it f. a dp s ti se pro.- iecting r nhe n bent-up. edgesletal sides thereof exceptthat at which the cable is gripped from the first portion an-dform g opop eptac e; or m lt nmetel either before the terminal is appliedgto therail or during its application to the rail, the said receptacle arrangedto catch and'support molten t a hi gmetal Wenthtwmiflal: s

r m 7 11 n r ece of the. e eiving. p rt en and forming a receptacle, theprojecting por-

